Means for suspending insulating ceilings, etc.



Jan. 21, 1941. H. 1.. FINCH 2,229,064

MEANS FOR SUSPENDING INSULATING CEILINGS, ETC

Diql- 2 Filed June 2, 1939 Patented Jan. 21, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE zszalu mums Fon susmnmo msum'rmo cmmos. arc.

mimic L. m Davenport, Iowa Application June 2, 1939, Serial No. "use 1Claims. (Cl. 12-11:)

My invention relates to the art of building construction and, moreparticularly, to that branch of the art which has to do with sounddeadening and/or insulating or wall and ceiling structures.

Many devices have heretofore beensuggested for the purpose, but allthosewhich have come to my attention are open to one or more objections.

My invention has for its primary object to i provide means for thepurpose stated which will not be open' to'the objections that have beenor i can be raised to the prior art devices.

Further, it is an object, to provide improved nailless means, includinginvisible clips, which may first be attached to the flbreboard and thenthe board, with clips attached, may be snapped into place as a unit.

Further, it is an object to provide a clip which in driven or pushedinto the edges or. sides of the reboard or acoustical tile, and willcooperate wi h the standard T-runner (see Figs. '7 and 8 of Pat. No.2,059,483).

Again, it is an object to provide a clip which can be installed withoutthe necessity of grooving ,the fibreboard or acoustical tile, andwithout the 25 necessity of nailing or riveting the clip to the board ortile.

A further object is to provide a clip that may be driven or pushed intothe flbreboard or acoustical tile while the same is still at floorlevel, thus saving an expensive operation of assembling a clip to asupporting moulding member and then. assembling the board or tile to theclip while on a scafi'old in an unnatural position (a slow, expensiveand skilled operation). 35 Another object is to provide a clip that isuniform in design regardless of whether it is to be used in a wall orceiling construction, or whether it is used in the field of design. orwhether it is used for the border adjacent the field, which in allaffords additional savings in that only one type of clip need be made,and further that less skilled eil'ort need be employed to make aninstallation in that no assorting of special clips for special purposesis necessary.

A further object is to provide a clip that is so designed as to have anupper prong which is longer than the lower prongs, thereby-providing agauging finger which enables each clip to be uniformly pushed into thetile, resulting in a level uniform ceiling or wall construction.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outhereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends the invention stillfurther resides in the 55 novel details oi construction, combination andarrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in thefollowing detailed descrip- I tion, and then be particularly pointed outin the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,in which:

Fig. l is a detail section and elevation showing my invention in use. a

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing two clips in place, back toback, in the T-runner.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on a larger scale of one embodimentof theinvention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a board or tile with the clips in place.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

' Fig. 6 is a perspective view of-another modification.

Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 are perspective views of further modifications.

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of another modification.

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of another form of T-runner.

In the drawing, in which like numbers and letters of reference indicatelike parts in all the figures, l represents the angle bar or furring towhich the T-runners are secured by suitable means, such as stirrups 0.

The T-runners, which are well known (see, for

instance, Pat. No. 1,833,174), comprise a base I, 30

two oppositely disposed web members or spring sides I, suitablyconverging; longitudinal beads or ribs are formed in the sides andextend outwardly to form the groove 3, the lower ends of the sides belowthe groove 3 being outwardly bent 35 to mnstitute flared lips 4 adaptedto aid the ready insertion between them of the fastening clips.

The fastening clips, which constitute the essential part oi. myinvention, comprise plate 'I from which atleast one upper tongue II andat least one lower tongue 8 arestamped by slitting the plate at I andbending the tongues.- The upper tongue or tongues are longer than thelower ones.

The tongues 8 and II lie in parallel planes normal to the planecontaining the body of the plate I and they are spaced apart a distancepreferably approximately one-half the thickness oi the insulation board,slab or tile l2. The tongues 8 are also pointed to facilitate theirentryinto the body of the board, etc.

At such distance above the tongue III as will permit that tongue to lieup in contact with-or as close as possible to-the lips l, a latchingtongue II is stamped from the plate I to lie within the groove 3 and actas a means to hold the clip firmly to the T-runner.

The lengths of the tongues 9 and Ill may vary.

The clip may have one tongue l0 and two tongues 9 (Figs. 1 to 4), or onetongue Ill and one tongue 9 (Fig. 5) in staggered relation, or onetongue I0 and one tongue 8 (Fig. '7) arranged one directly above theother, or two tongues in and one tongue 9 (Fig. 7), or the clips may bemade up of several integrally formed units (Fig. 7).

The T-runner grooves may be of different shapes in cross section, viz,for examples, curved (Figs. 1 and 2) or angular (Fig. 10). When angular,clips 1 with flat tongues li (Fig. 9) are preferably used. The tongue liwhen used in T-runners having the groove 3 shaped as in Fig. 10, affordsa positive lock that requires very little pressure in assembling theboard to the runner, but when once in place the clip will withstand agreat deal of'pull, yet it can be released when desired by merelyinserting a screw-driver in the bead and twisting it to separate thesides 5.

In the several views of modifications of the invention the correspondingparts bear the same reference number plus the index letter a, b, c, d,e, or f, as the case may be, so further detailed description of theseveral figures of the drawing is thought to be unnecessary.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, it is thought that the complete construction,operation and advantages of the invention will 'be clear to thoseskilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In building construction of the character described employing knownT-runners; novel sheet metal clips each comprising a fiat body, at leastone upper tongue and at least one lower tongue said tongues beinglocated in parallel planes and extending out at right angles from saidbody from one side of said body only, and a latching tongue projectingout from said body at a definitely predetermined distance above saidupper tongue, by virtue of all of which when said clips are in place onthe panels and the panels are in place on said T-runners the clips willbe invisible and each panel will be supported in place individually andindependently of the others.

2. In building construction of the character described employing knownT-runners; novel sheet metal clips each of which comprises a flat body,at least one upper tongue and at least one lower tongue located inparallel planes and extending out at right angles from one side only ofsaid body, and a latching tongue projecting out from said body on thesame side as the parallel tongues at a definitely predetermined distanceabove said upper tongue to cooperate with said T-runners, said lowertongue being pointed to enable the forcing of the tongue into the edgeof a panel.

3. In building construction of the character described employing knownT-runners; novel sheet metal clips each of which comprises a flat body,

at least one upper tongue and at least one lower tongue located inparallel planes and extending out at right angles from one side only ofsaid body, and a latching tongue projecting out from said body on thesame side as the parallel tongues at a definitely predetermined distanceabove said upper tongue to cooperate with said T-runners,

said lower tongue being pointed, in combination with a panel having acontinuous unbroken or uninterrupted edge, said lower tongue projectingfrom said edge into the panel, said upper tongue lying on one face ofthe panel and said body lying flat against said edge of the panel.

4. In the art of building construction, wherein is employed knownT-runners, and sheet metal panel mounting clips; a novel clip comprisinga flat body, at least one upper tongue and at least one lower tonguelocated in parallel planes and extending out at right angles from saidbody and from one side of the body only, and a latching tongueprojecting out from said body at a deflnitely predetermined distanceabove said upper tongue to cooperate withsaid T-runners, the lowertongue being spaced from the upper tongue a distance substantially lessthan the thickness of the board or tile to be supported.

5. In the art of building construction, wherein is employed knownT-runners, and sheet metal panel mountin clips; a novel clip comprisinga fiat body, at least one upper tongue and at least one lower tonguelocated in parallel planes and extending out at right angles from saidbody and from one side of said body only, and a latching tongueprojecting out from said body on the same side as said parallel tonguesat a definitely predetermined distance above said upper tongue (tocooperate with said T-runners, said upper tongue being longer than saidlower tongue, thereby making the upper tongue a gauging member tofacilitate the proper locating of the clip into a tile board.

6. In the art of building construction, the combination of T-runners,each having spring sides formed with a groove and diverging lipsadjacent said groove, panels with uninterrupted edges, clips forsupporting said panels from said T-runners, said clips each comprising aflat body having at least one upper tongue and at least one lower tonguelocated in parallel planes and extending out at right angles from saidbody at one side thereof only, and a latching tongue cooperating withsaid T-runners projecting out from said body on the same side as saidparallel tongues and located at a definitely predetermined distanceabove said upper tongue such that said upper tongue will engage saidlips when said latching tongue is assembled in said groove, said lowertongue bein pointed to facilitate its being forced into the edge of thepanel.

'7. In the art of building construction, the combination of T-runners,each having spring sides formed with a groove and diverging lipsadjacent said groove, panels with uninterrupted edges, clips forsupporting said panels from said T-runners, said clips each comprising afiat body having at least one upper tongue and at least one lower tonguelocated in parallel planes and extending out at right angles from saidbody at one side thereof only, and a latching tongue cooperating withsaid T-runners projecting out from said body on the same side as saidparallel tongues and located at a definitely predetermined distanceabove said upper tongue such that said upper tongue will engage saidlips when said latching tongue is assembled in said groove, said lowertongue being pointed to facilitate its being forced into the edge of thepanel, the distance between said upper and lower tongues being less thanthe thickness of the panel.

HAROLD L. FINCH.

